PHILADELPHIA - One charge of a task force on the middle class is examining how investing in green jobs will strengthen that U.S. demographic, Vice President Joe Biden said.

The White House Task Force on Middle Class Families, meeting for the first time Friday in Philadelphia, is charged "to asses current polices and develop new ones aimed at helping the middle class, the economic engine of this country," Biden wrote in a commentary published Friday in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, which includes $20 billion for investing in a cleaner, greener economy, including $500 million for green-job training.

"Investing in green jobs also means keeping up with the modern economy," Biden wrote. "At a time when good jobs at good wages are harder and harder to come by, we must find new, innovative opportunities."

Information from the president's Council of Economic Advisers indicates green jobs pay 10 percent to 20 percent more than other jobs, Biden said. Building a new power grid, manufacturing solar panels, weatherizing homes and offices and renovating schools "are just a few of the ways to create high-quality green jobs that strengthen the foundation of this country," he said.

"We're starting to make the investments needed to leave a cleaner world to our children while also creating good jobs right now," Biden said. "When you're creating green jobs, you're doing well by doing good."